Enigmatic multi-instrumentalist Ric Rufio opened with his unique blend of electronic-pop and 90s RnB influences. Clearly at home at a packed Metro, he eased the crowd into the smooth grooves of his electronic pop set with the sexy pulsing synth beats of ‘Over Me’ and ‘Don’t Got a Problem’. Rufio then dialled up the sex appeal showcasing his sultry RnB vocals with standouts including Rewind, Water to Wine and the catchy-as-hell finale, So Wonderful. Throughout the seven-song set, the charismatic Rufio looked totally in control his complex mix of futuristic sounds and throwback RnB styles.
The fact that LANY came out on stage and the first words out of frontman Paul Klein’s mouth were “Oh my god, I think I’m in love” was both poignant and appropriate. That exact sentiment was echoed across the crowd, just at the very sight of him.
The screams from the thousands of girls (and, surprisingly, boys too) packed in Sydney’s Metro Theatre could likely be heard in the bands’ hometown of Los Angeles as LANY took the stage with Klein draped in an Australian flag.
[The entire review won’t just be made up of descriptions of how devastatingly handsome the singer is, but just to get it out of the way: he looks photoshopped, he looks like someone brought a Disney prince to life, and he literally used to be a male model.]
LANY were in Australia a mere couple of months ago, and maybe it’s the bigger venue with better lighting on this tour, but it genuinely seemed as if their stage presence had improved out of sight since we last saw them at the Oxford Art Factory (where they played to 300 very excited fans in February). In the space of four months, the band have collected a sizable and passionate fanbase, with standing room only in the theatre and people almost hanging from the rafters.
The band’s self-titled album only dropped a few weeks ago, but every single person in the room had apparently studied it as gospel and knew every single word, much to the absolute delight of Klein. His musings between the songs about how happy he was that people were excited about their music came straight from the heart, and left more than a few fans in tears (and him, at one point).
[Paul Klein] looks photoshopped, he looks like someone brought a Disney prince to life, and he literally used to be a male model.
The setlist was perfectly crafted to take Sydney on an emotional hour and a half journey through the bands’ back catalogue, starting the night off with fan favourite ‘Dumb Stuff’, and closing out with equal fan favourite ‘ILYSB (I Love You So Bad)’. The biggest highlight of the night was when the crowd took over vocal duties for the band, and sung the chorus of ‘ILYSB’ back to the band. The crowd were genuinely singing to the band about how badly they loved them, and the band were giving it right back to them.
LANY emotionally farewelled Australia by saying, “Thank you Oz, we’d like to come back forever if you’ll have us.” We’re pretty sure we’d be happy to make that happen.
Lany played the Metro on Saturday July 22.
